Digging up Memories
by Jeditwins
Summary: They were like two pieces of two different puzzles, that came together so perfectly, so much more beautifully than they were originally intended to, and just like that a family formed. Ellie filled the void that was in Joel's heart, so that's why her decisions took such a toll in him, forcing him to relive Sarah. [After The Last of Us]


Hey all. I have been in love with The Last of Us since it came out three years ago, and I have been wanting to recreate that bond with Joel and Ellie some how. I've rejected short story ideas, fan videos, even books, to find the right way to satisfy myself. Finally, I've settled on this short, one shot fan fiction. Hope you enjoy, and if you want me to write more, comment below.

...

"Shit, they're following us"

"Shut up, we're here now"

Footprints are seen in the mud on the street of an urban graveyard. The roar of a truck can be heard in the distance. Gunfire. Gunfire, not at anything in particular, but everything. Two bodies, in fleet of the truck, seek refuge in a nearby building. Two flights up, a door slams, and a desk blocks the entrance.

"Shit that was close" a tall, middle aged man sighs, looking for support on the desk. A woman, average height, tan skin, brown hair, moves away from the window.

"The loss of three of our men, was not worth this much!" She exclaims, moving towards the man, clearly out of breath.

"Lacy, calm down, we're safe now, we just have to find what we came for" the man reassures as he embraces the woman.

"Right, and then we'll go". Lacy adjusts her backpack, slumping it onto a nearby counter top. She opens it up, as they rob the nearby drawers of what was left by the last group of hunters to pass through.

"Shh, do you hear that? " All goes quiet.

Heavy boots can be heard from the metal stairs outside. "Fuck, we have to go". Lacy pulls open the window, allowing her partner to climb out to the scaffolding outside. The window shuts as the door bursts open. The pair slip into a nearby window left ajar to allow the cool air to flow in.

"Johnson are you alright? Lacy asks, as she closes the window behind her.

"Uhh, we have a problem" In front of the two stands a young girl, her brown hair hangs freely, as she sits on the floor with a stuffed, old, but loved, bear.

"Maa..." the girl cries. The two intruders hurry too keep her quiet.

"No no" the man hushes, pacing forward, "don't call your Mom"

"Why not?" The girl retorts.

"Because umm, you're a big girl, you don't need her help" Lacy tries. The child seems incontent with her answer. Johnson leaps forward into a crouch next to the child. He reveals a switchblade from his pocket and places it in her hand.

"For fucks sake Johnson, you can't give a fucking ten year old a knife".

"Lacy, we don't have time, we gotta go" he moves to another window, before turning to the child. "Cheers". The two disappear from sight.

"Marleeene" the kid cries. An older woman opens the door. Her face holds a tired expression.

"Where'd you get that? " Marlene asks, referencing to the blade.

"I'm old enough to handle myself" the kid whines.

"Sure you are Ellie" Marlene laughs, "well big girl, I umm actually have this for you, I think your old enough for it now" She passes Ellie a note, as she leaves the room. Ellie sits on the floor, her back against the now closed door, blocking the entry. In her hand, clutched to her chest is a note from her mother.

...

Six years later..

...

Ellie sits against a wall in an old house, decayed, and claimed back by nature.

"Pull yourself together" She whispers to herself. Ellie pulls herself off the floor, back on tasks she rummages through the kitchen, filling her back pack with supplies, and medicine. She pulls on a jammed drawer, a severed hand, and a nail bomb rolls to the front. "Nice, Joel will like this" she says, as she pockets the bomb. A creak on the floorboards redirects Ellie's attention, as she realizes she's not alone. A lone clicker stands in the room.

"Shit, that's not good". Where there's one, there's often more, Joel tells her. She sneaks around it, looking for a clear way to draw her switchblade, and strike. She won't waste her ammo. "Make every shot count". In one swift move the clicker lies on the ground. Ellie moves to the stairs of the house. If she can get a clear view of the ground surrounding the house, she can maybe track where it came from. She checks the main bedroom. There's not much there, but a large bay window gives a sufficient view. Ellie scopes the ground. Something has drawn the attention of more, as they make their way to surround the house. "Gotta move". She can't leave the way she came, so she lowers herself onto a garbage bin from the second story. She jogs to her horse, stationed a few meters from the house.

The fall leaves crunch under the horses hoof, so a walk is required. It's not very effective in escaping infected, but it stops any unwanted attention. A gun fires in the distance, causing the infected to become alert. Ellie swiftly dismounts and leads her horse to cover. She tries to count the hunters off in the distance. Four stand around a truck further up the path, while the two that took out the infected walk towards her location. Ellie ducks behind a log, using her horse as a distraction. They're too far away from the truck for those four to be an issue. The two hunters vault a pipe, left abandoned some years before. Ellie crouches around behind them. In two movements she slides her knife under the collarbone of the man on the right. She spins before the hunter on the left realizes what is going on, and plunges her blade between the third and forth rib. He drops. She ducks behind the pipe. Now for the truck.

Ellie pulls out her hunting rifle from her bag, and aims for the truck. One head comes into view. She aims. She fires. He falls. The three notice her.  
"Shit, shit, fuck". She slides her hand into her pocket and retrieves the bomb. "Sorry Joel, I guess you'll thank me when I don't die". She throws the bomb to the feet of the three remaining men. It explodes and the three drop.

"Alright, time to move" She checks around, before mounting and walking off. She heads down the path, watching her step as she goes. A hand pulls her off the horse, and she falls on her shoulder. Almost fracturing it. A heavy boot lands on her stomach. The sun blinds her as she looks up to her attacker.A gun is aimed at her face. A trigger is pulled, a bullet is fire, a face is covered with blood. The attacker falls to the ground covering Ellie.

"Ew, fuck, get off me" Ellie rolls the body off, springing to her feet.

"Ellie, what the fuck are you doing out here alone?"

She turned her head, to find Joel standing off the track, revolver in hand. She relaxed.

"Joel, you don't know how happy I am to see you" she smiled. Joel stayed tense.

"Grab your stuff, we're leaving" He said, mounting the horse.

"But Joel"

"No, get on the horse"

Ellie slumped over to Joel and took her seat behind him. The two rode back to Tommy's dam in nothing but silence.

"Ahh, there's my little trooper" Tommy cheered when the two came into view. "She's the best at supply runs you know?" He added when he saw Joel's expression.

Joel dismounted, and pushed past Tommy, grazing shoulders, "not cool Tommy, she's to young to be out on her own"

"Shit Joel, I'm 16 now, you can't protect me forever" Ellie retorted, dismounting.

"I can mighty well try" Joel paused.

Maria appeared from a nearby building, "Joel, it was just down the road, she made it back in one piece"

Joel turned to face Tommy, "They had a fucking gun to he face" he stopped, looked down, "I can't do this again".

"Shit Joel, I'm-"

"Save it"

Ellie turned to Tommy. "What?"

"Don't worry about the horse, find Joel"

...

Joel paced back and forth, his boots echoed slightly on the concrete floor.

"Joel, if this is about Sarah, I just want you to kno-"

"It's not just about Sarah, "He echoed to himself, interrupting the voice. "Ellie...you don't need to apologize".

Ellie relaxed as she entered the room. She twiddled her thumbs, unsure what to say next. The air was filled with that think, unreadable, unbreathable nervousness that hung around the first time Joel and Ellie met.

"Tommy wanted me to let you know that some men came across a warehouse full of supplies, and thought that we should check it out?" Ellie mumbled Joel walked to a nearby table, leaning on the splintered wood for support. His eyes looked to the floor.

"What? He's men not good enough for him?"

"It's not like that"

"I'm sure its not"

Ellie fell silent, waiting for something, anything, but she got nothing. After what felt like an eternity of Joel staring at the floor, he readjusted his weight, standing back on his feet. His shoulder shifted as he turned to face her.

"Fine, let's go"

Ellie smiled, "Cool, I'll tell Tommy to get the horses ready"

"Ellie, wait. We'll walk"

"Really?"

"C'mon, like old times" Joel paused, "And I'll umm, tell you more about Sarah"

...

"Wow Joel, I'm sorry" Ellie turned her face to the leaves on the ground. The red and orange flakes were soggy from the rain, and some of the leaves had started to rot under the bushes.

"It's alright Ellie, life goes on"

Ellie jogged forward, her shoes slipping slightly on the ground. "You know, I've never climbed a tree before?" She chuckled.

"Really? The fireflies didn't have time for that?" Joel jogged to meet her. He turned his head to the environment around him. "Umm, what about that one?" he pointed to a large oak.

"Yeah, where do I start?"

"Ellie"

"Fine fine, one sec"

Ellie reached up to first branch. She tried to pull her weight up, but the bark peeled away from the tree and she fell back to the ground.

"Not cool, okay" she laughed, "I give up"

Joel just chuckled to himself and continued down the path.

"Give me a leg up?"

"C'mon, we gotta keep moving if we want to make it back by nightfall"

"Fine fine"

The two journeyed on. By the time they reached the warehouse the sun was already high up in the sky. The building was over run with vines, and the ground was cracked with moss.

"Looks like no one has been here in years" Ellie remarked, looking up at the structure, amazed that it still stood.

"Tommy never mentioned if there were infected inside, so take it easy, okay?"

Ellie swallowed hard, with questions in the back of her mind. Her eyes wandered down. "Okay, Sure"

Joel reached for the handle of a metal door, he didn't even have to turn it to know that it wasn't going to open. "Ellie, find a way in"

The 16 year old moved around the building. "Uhh, Joel, there's a window over here" she shouted

"Well, is it open?"

"No, but we can open it"

"With what?"

Ellie appeared from behind the building. "With a rock?" She sarcastically asked

Joel and Ellie walked over to the window. He picked up a rock that was positioned by a fence, and threw it at the window. The window smashed, and the pieces fell into the building. The two silenced, listening out for any infected that would've been alerted by the noise.

"Okay, boost me up" Ellie insisted

Joel walked over to the window, and placed his hands together to form a step, "Alright, I'm ready"

Ellie stepped into his hands, jumping up to the window. She pulled herself to the gap Joel created.

"Ellie?"

Ellie turned to Joel, one leg propped on the ledge. "Yeah?"

"Just, be careful"

Ellie smiled, "Don't worry, trust me"

Joel sighed, "And Ellie? Don't step on the glass"

Ellie laughed as she lowered herself to the ground, taking care not to alert any infected that didn't hear them before. She glanced around the room, allowing her eyes to wander from item to item. In one corner of the room was a desk, with a picture of a blonde woman in an ugly brown frame. Next to that photo was a child in a homemade macaroni frame. A small window connected the room to a second room. The same type of metal door lead out of the room. She tried the handle on the door first. The handle moved, but the door stuck.

Ellie shouted, "Joel? Did Sarah make you ugly macaroni frames for you to put pictures in?"

"What? Ellie! Get to the front to let me in"

"Yeah, we have an issue, this door won't open either"

"Well climb back over"

"No, it's fine, I'll find a way for you to get in"

Joel rolled his eyes, "just hurry up".

He looked around the side they were on, One of the windows was open on the second story, A metal staircase led up to it.

He chuckled, "You know, Ellie, you didn't look very hard, there's an open window over here"

Ellie shouted back from inside, "Huh? Maybe that's how they got in before"

Ellie returned to the window, "Okay, I'm coming back, stay there". She lowered herself back to the outside world, and the two moved to the second story. "Ya know Ellie, did Tommy say where the supplies were?" Joel asked walking ahead.

"Somewhere on the ground level" She questioned herself more than informing Joel.

"Well, keep your eye out".

At the end of a hallway was a large metal door, similar to the last two.

"You know, for a warehouse there are a lot of offices here" Joel laughed to Ellie.

"Did you ever work in one of these?" Ellie asked

"No, I was a carpenter before the apocalypse, but I did plan to start mt own business" Joel remarked, "But umm, stuff got in the way, you know?"

Ellie laughed as she shook her head, "Yeah, I do".

"Ten bucks that won't open" Ellie motioned to the door ahead.

She reached for the handle, turning it slightly, and pushing for it to move. The door moved freely but stuck as it hit something blocking it off.

"That's not going to work" Ellie commented.

"Fuck it, we aint got time for this" Joel rammed his shoulder into the door. It made a loud scraping noise as the door moved, pushing the block with it. Ellie turned her attention behind her. "Shit Joel, move it!". A herd of clickers sped around the corner of the hallways. "Move it!" She cried.

One last shove to the door made a gap large enough to fit through. The two ran through, Ellie following Joel. He reached for the door at the bottom of the staircase, holding it open to allow Ellie to move through. "Fuck, that was close" She panted, turning around. Joel pushed a clicker off him as he moved through the door, slamming it as it separated him and the hoard of clickers. "You right?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, lets just find these supplies and go"

The two found themselves in another hallway, with large double doors on the left hand side, and a door on the right hand side. Next to the door was a large window, giving view to the room inside. Ellie looked through her hands to the room on the right. "Looks like a garage"

"Yeah well, that must be where the supplies are" Joel said as he opened the door and stepped through. "Let's go"

The garage was relatively clean, apart from a flood of water from a broken pipe in the corner. The air felt damp and the ground felt moist. Joel groaned as he lowered himself against the wall, allowing himself to fall to the ground to catch his fall. "These joints aren't like they used to be" he chuckled, shaking his head. Ellie sat next to him, "Yeah, I don't want to get old" she commented.

"Ellie-"

She turned to face Joel

"Joel?"

"I'm sorry Ellie" His eyes teared up as he looked to his feet.

"Fuck Joel, what did you do?" She cried.

Joel rolled up his sleeve revealing a bite on his arm. "Look, you gotta grab these boxes, and go"

A tear rolled down her eye, "No, I'm not going anywhere!"

"You are getting out of here" He raised his voice

"I'm going nowhere, I waited it out with a Riley, I can wait it out with you" She stared ahead "Fuck you", she shoved his shoulder as she stood up, pacing across the room. "Fuck, fuck, fuck".

"Ellie, this isn't helping" Joel tried to remain calm, "I'm sorry"

"No, we were a team, we worked, this" She choked on her tears, "This isn't real"

Ellie sat back at Joel's side, allowing her tears to fall. "I'm sorry Joel"

"You need to get back to Tommy" Joel stood up

Ellie grabbed a broken seat from a bus, laying it on the floor. "I don't care if it takes a day, a week, or a lifetime, I'm staying with you"

Joel nodded, "Okay". He grabbed another seat from the bus, and lay it next to the first.

"You think there's food in here?" Ellie asked, opening one of the supply boxes. We've got beans, corn, and peaches?"

"Great, I can make my famous bean, corn, and peach stew" He laughed, lighting a candle between the make shift beds.

"Look, I was umm, thinking about grabbing a guitar from the dam, you know, making it a little more comfortable" Ellie suggested

"I'm going to die, this isn't comfortable" Joel lay down on the mattress. Ellie lay down too, up at the grey ceiling. She rolled over to face Joel.

"Did you think it was going to end like this?" She asked. Joel rolled over to face her.

"Like what?"

Ellie sat up, before lying back down, "You know, dying on a mattress"

"Ellie" Joel groaned, turning back up to the ceiling.

"I'm just saying, did you think you were going to spend your last days on a moldy mattress, did you think about that when the apocalypse started?" She questioned.

"Now's not the time" he rolled over, away from Ellie

"No, fuck you, this could be the last time I talk to you, my last night of knowing you" she sighed, "I just need to know"

Joel sat up and faced Ellie, "No, I didn't think I'd be dying on a mattress, okay?" He lay back down.

"No, two years ago you swore to me, that everything you said about the fireflies was true" she sat up to look at Joel, "I need you to swear to me again, right now" her eyes teared up, "I need to know if we're the last of us"

"Ellie" He sighed, unable to speak, "I", he paused, "I, can't swear to you, not now"

"That's what I thought" She shook her head as she lay back down.

"Ellie"

"No, it's fine, I knew that, I knew you were bullshitting me" She rolled away from Joel

Joel blew out the candle. "Goodnight, baby girl". He lay back down.

The two lay in silence. after a minute that felt like an hour, Ellie spoke, "Goodnight".

...

Fog rolled across the ground in sheets, when Ellie awoke. Joel still lay asleep, still, and sound. Ellie sighed, maybe you wont be affected by this, maybe you'll be okay" she whispered as she exhaled. She crept out of the garage, quietly shutting the doors behind her. "I'm just going to get a few things, she whispered to the softly sleeping Joel. Ellie strolled off through the fog, allowing her mind to wander. If she had been caught out here alone, Joel would've killed her, but he couldn't really speak right now, so for now, she was at ease, free. She perched on a nearby pipe, and slid her backpack off her shoulders. She found herself holding on the the note her mother had written her, in her frail, dying handwriting. For some reason she couldn't be mad at Joel, not after everything he did for her, and all that he meant to her, or all that she meant to him. She soon found herself back at Tommy's. The air was still fresh, and the town was still sleeping. She grabbed what she wanted, Joel's tan guitar, and left, making the walk back to Joel.

When she arrived back the fog had dissipated, but the ground remained wet, water droplets hung about.

She slid open the main doors of the building. "Okay Joel, I'm back" She shouted into the empty building, her voice echoing the walls. She tiptoed to the window of the garage, as she felt her heart fall. Joel stood in a crouched position over the area they had slept, his head turned to follow the sounds. Ellie fell to her knees.

A single tear rolled down her face, for a single tear was all she would allow.  
"He's turned" She wept, to no one, as no one was listening.

Ellie wouldn't budge from her seat, she stayed there, still, frozen. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky before she allowed her thoughts to guide her. She slid up the wall, balancing on her feet. "Okay, Joel" she gulped. Ellie walked over to the staircase, and placed her hand on the cold door. She exhaled deeply as she turned the handle, and pushed the door slowly, allowing it to scrape on the concrete floor, making as much noise as it could. She quickly pushed the desk in place, using it as a door stop, too keep it open.

"Okay Clickers, it's my turn" She shouted up the stairs.  
"I've been waiting for my turn since Riley, Since Tess, Since Henry and Sam, and now, since Joel" She teared up

She walked over to the door leading to the Garage, and sat in front of it. "It's my turn" she whispered.

Ellie picked up the guitar, and strikes a chord, as her heart strikes a note, and a clicker strikes a noise from nearby.

...

Okay guys, I hope you liked my little, not so little one shot. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment, also if you stick around, I may actually post the alternative endings I came up with as I wrote this, as I was picking between three. Thanks for reading ^.^ - Jeditwins


End file.
